Cot ojb cross bedstead-sofa



1 M M M m 5 M. i

inventor;

iiNiiTE? GERARD SICKELS, OF MIDDLETOVVN, CONNECTICUT.

COT OB GROSS BEDSTEAD-SOFA.

Specificationiof Letters Patent No. 1,800, dated September 25,1840.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it :known that I, GERARD SIoKELs, of Middletown, in the county of Middlesex and State of Connecticut, have .invented a.

new and useful Improvement in the Common Cot or Cross Bedstead, called the Cross BedsteadSofa, and .that the following is a full and .eXact description of the same as invented or improved by me.

The object of my improvement is to convert such a cot or cross bedstead, whether of the single or double size, into a sofa or settee, and vice versa, by means of an additional joint in one of the legs at each end of the bedstead, in the manner hereinafter mentioned.

The accompanying drawings exhibit the improvement, and form a part of this specification.

The same letters in the drawings refer to like parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 represents the cot-form. Fig. 2 represents the form of the sofa or settee. Fig. 3 represents the legs with the additional hinge joint.

The letters A, B, represent the crossstanchions or legs; C,the frontispieces; D, the arms; E, the stretcher-rails; F, the connectors; G, the sack-bottom.

The form in Fig. 1, answers to the general description of a common cot-bedstead. But, for the sake of neatness, and c0nvenience, each pair of the stanchions or legs, instead of being bolted together side by side in the ordinary mode, are halved and fitted together at their intersections on the principle of a rule-joint turning on the pivots (l).

The stanchions or legs, which have the additional joints, are constructed as follows: The upper parts of such stanchions or legs are connected with the lower parts thereof by hinges (2) constituting said additional joints; and being enlarged and shaped in such a manner as to fill the space between the front stretcher-rail and the legs, when the article is in the form of a sofa or settee, they become the frontispieces C. The said additional joint in the stanchion is cut obliquely from front to rear on the lower side of the joint so as to form the same angle which the stanchion forms to a perpendicular when the article is in a sofa form; thus enabling the face of the frontispiece to present a perpendicular when the article is in the sofa form, and to be in a right line with the stanchion, when in the bedstead form. The pieces D, being mortised at a proper height into the front side .of the upper ends of .the solid legs, and :6X

tending across to the front, and being also fitted to and resting in the spaces left by the openings of said additional joints when the article is in a sofa form, constitute, in combination with the frontispieces and part of the jointed legs, the arms of the sofa.

The stretcher-rails E, are pieces about three and a half inches Wide and about two inches thick, flat on the under side, and semicircular on the upper side, extending the whole length of the sofa and attached to the stanchions or legs.

The connectors F, are flat pieces about three and a half inches wide and about one inch thick, extending the whole length of the sofa, and attached to the solid stanchions or legs, the lower connector about five inches from the foot of the legs on the front side, and the upper connector about five inches from the top of the legs on the back side.

To change the cot into the form of a sofa (as in Fig. 2) elevate the rear stretcherrail to the ordinary height of a sofa back; raise the front stretcher-rail so as to depress the legs B, to the floor; thenlower the front stretcher-rail down by means of the hinges, causing the frontispieces (which are connected by said front rail) to fall into the spaces in front, between the front legs and stanchions B, wherein said frontispieces are so shaped as to fit, in a perpendicular position. The lower ends of said frontispieces rest in notches (8) upon the front legs just above the lower connector F, and are secured in the notches by hooks or springs, thereby sustaining the article in the form of a sofa, and rendering brackets unnecessary to sustain the front rail in its proper position. The arms, frontispieces, &c., are thus so fitted together as to make the ends of the sofa complete. The sackbottom forms at oncethe back of the sofa and a support for the seat. A bed or mattress or board and cushion placed on the sack-bottom in a suitable manner constitutes the seat of the sofa, which, being covered with chintz or other proper material, is complete.

Again, to convert the sofa into a cot-bedstead: loosen the hooks or springs at the lower ends of the frontispieces, and draw out the front rail. The whole naturally i kept in an extended position by the coma bined effect of the saclobottom and hinges.

a What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is a The art, principle or contrivance of convertinga common cot or cross bedstead into a the shape of a sofa or settee and vice versa,

bymeans of an additional joint in the upper part of one of the cross stanchions or legs at each end of the cot, combined With arms and frontispieces, all constructed, fitted,

and adapted to each other in the manner hereinbefore specified and described, for the purpose of producing and thereby producing at pleasure from the common cot or cross bedstead a cheap and firm sofa or settee having an elastic back and seat simply by the use of the pack-bottom in the manner hereinbefore described; Which sofa or settee is again convertible at pleasure into the form of a cot bedstead, and so from the one form to the other as occasion may require.

Dated at Middletovvn the 14th day of September A. D. 1840.

GERARD SICKELS. Witnesses:

EDWIN HUNT, JONATHAN BARNES. 

